Adopt a child by being his sponsor - give them a chance

Hey friends and family,

This is a call for those who want to adopt a nepali child by sponsoring ... I already got several request and let you know in this newsletter what to do (practical information).
Like I told you before, a lot of children here cannot go to school because of lack of money in their poor families. Children from Kathmandu as well as children from the country or mountains.

Cross Borders has several schoolprojects running all over the valley of Kathmandu and even farther. Inscription fee for a child is about 8 euro and a lot of families cannot afford it according to an average yearly income of 600 euro for one family. De poorest families don't even reach that income and are far away below. Cross Borders wants to take especially care of those really desadvantaged cases. Not only the inscription fee, but also the uniforms and schoolbooks are to expensive for them. Above that fact, some children have to stay at school during the week because of the big distances and also local busses are to expensive to go home every day.
Within the coming week I will get a CD with about 50 children and a complete file about family conditions, age, and so on ... Those are all children that can be sponsored via Cross Borders.
The persons who want to become a sponsor for a child will get the fully file of the child with age, address and some pictures of the child. The sponsoring money is various : from 22 euro to 160 euro for one year. Also children with a handicap can be "adopted" that way, that's why the sponsoring is different from child to child. That money can be paid every three months or at once for a hole year on a special account destinated to the child you'll adopt. Every three months all sponsoring "parents" will receive a complete report with evolution of studies, results of exams and so on. Those families are guided by Cross Borders and if a sponsored child is not going to school anymore for reasons other than health, sponsoring will be stopped.
You can "adopt" a girl or a boy, from different ages, going from 6 till 16.
How to do it is easy !

Everybody who is interested can send me a mail with a specific request : girl, boy ..., age and especially the yearly amount they want to give for sponsoring (for instance 60 euro a year = 15 euro each three months). Send your mail to photoma@live.be . I'm still in Nepal till April !!!
When I get your mail, I give your request to Cross Borders, I help Cross Borders to choose a child according to your wishes. Than Cross Borders will send you the file of "your child" with the pictures and the account number where you can transfer the money. So don't forget to mention your e-mail address for sure !!!!!!!!

I did "adopt" already a little boy of 6 - yearly amount 120 euro.
Jorge Santos (Portugal) has also "adopted a little boy and Luis (Boli - Spain) already asked me how to do it. My photofriends of Holland send me several requests too ...
I want to thank you all in advance !!!
What is for us a small contribution of 5 or 10 euro a month, we are "rich" people compared to what is happening here ... and what a warm feeling to know you can help at a child to have a better future.

This is a picture from the children in the small Airport School outside Kathmandu. The classes there don't have windows ... Those children are so eager to learn and happy. But some of them will need to be "adopted" or sponsored to finish school !!!

Warm greetz ... Yvette

Kathmandu, February 20, 2008

A school with an amazing story,

This is a boarding school similar to many schools, just outside the city in Kathmandu. ... Also a project of Cross Borders ! But this particular school has an amazing story. The director started it 13 years ago, with the help of an english volonteer. He got a big tumor on the left part of his face, a short time after starting the school. The english lady who was volonteer at the school sponsored it a lot because it was working good. She also paid for surgery to take away that tumor ... After a few years, the director married and got a son. He lived and still lives with his family in a real small and poor house (see pictures) near to the school. Every cent he got is for the children to keep on running his school. After 13 years now, there are 190 children studying in that school. Ten classes from 1st primary till 3rd secondary. The children's inscription fee is 8 euro, but they also have to pay uniform and schoolbooks + some scolar material. All together about 25 euro a year. Only the parents of 130 children can afford that amount with a lot of difficulties. About 60 children are there for free with thanks to their director who is taking all children from the poorest families he meets on the streets. Cross Borders begged him to do that because the school will not be able to run cause of lack of money. His own family has to live in very bad conditions. But he has such a big heart that he cannot stop taking those children in his school. In my next newsletter, I'll let you know how to sponsor one of those kids or kids from another school. I have a great feeling of respect for this man and his family ...

Kathmandu - February 15, 2008

DNC - DISABLED NEWLIFE CENTER

One of the projects of Cross Borders here in Kathmandu is the orphans house for disabled children. I was there two days ago ... The orphan house is a harbour of rest, warmth and love. The children have all kinds of handicaps, from light handicaps till really bad handicaps. They got education, school and medical care, even surgery or protheses. It's a warm community sponsored by different dutch firms. The children, small and tall, are prepared in the best way possible to have an independant life when reaching the age of 18. They still will be supported when they leave. Work and home are provided as much as possible by this center.

I saw so much joy and hope on those faces in spite of their handicaps and hard times. The peopel working at the center most are also orphans. Everybody is helping everybody ... My stay at DNC brought me deep respect and a great life lesson !!!

Hi friends,

Kathmandu is a city full of live with 6.000.000 inhabitants. Poverty, dust and dirt everywhere. Traffic is really chaotic. Bikes, people, busses, cars, riksja’s and cows quarrelling to go ahead. No rules at all, even riding left is a big mess. Claxons are the only common language in the streets and on the routes. You have to cover your face to protect yourself from dust and pollution.
Poverty and misery are nearly bearable. So many homeless people, kids living on the streets and beggers. But also a lot of little restaurants with delicious food. I’m feeling guilty to visit them.
Twice a day, according to a fixed schedule, electricity fells out for three hours. Each day on different periods. This is so all over the country and is due to less water coming from the mountains to the electricity centrals in winter time. During summertime, they don’t have those problems. Everything is still frozen up there. But now, live goes on during power cuts with candle light and fire on the streets in the evening.
I’m going to my work by bike everyday. A dangerous trip of 30 minutes, my face completely covered except my eyes, not to breath dust and pollution. Each day a new challenge to arrive well at school.
The contact centrum where I’m teaching is situated in a very nice house out of the city center. It belongs to Yjoti, a great woman. Thanks to her, about 30 children from very pover families can go to the small class rooms she arranged for them.
The kids are between 4 and 12 years old. They never went to school before. They come to the contact center to improve their level so that they can go to normal boarding schools or government schools. It is a kind of transition school. They stay about a year before leaving.
We have two class rooms for 15 children. The youngest ones together and the older ones together. 26 girls and only 4 boys … Beside Yjoti, who is taking care of the house and the administration, also teaching in Nepalese, there are two more female teachers, Kumari and Sjama giving lessons in English from out primary schools books – mathematics, science, language etc … I’m taking over each class for an hour and pay especially attention to the kids who are starting and those who have some difficulties.
Charmina is the fourth of that wonderfull staff, cooking for all of us, the children included of course. Sober but nutritive meals … At 3pm school is finished. The kids are going home all alone, even the small ones and often barefoots. They got some homework that I have to correct the day after. But not a lot homework because a lot of those children have to take care of their little brothers or sisters when they come home. They really are all very eager to learn. They call the volunteers “sister”, but when I arrived on my first day with the presents I got from Belgium (most school furnitures), Kumari told the kids that I was a grandmom of 14 grandchildren calling me “oma”, they don’t ever say “sister” to me but “oma”. Drawnings from my youngest grandchildren are on the wall of the class rooms now !!!
On Friday, school ends at noon. No lessons on Friday, but only creative activities and a lot of singing and dancing. On Friday they also got a big delicious and rich meal because there is no school on Saturday. But on Sunday they have to go to school !!! In Nepal, Sunday is an ordinary day. Saturday is the weekly free day for everybody.
The children are waring an uniform given by Yjoti when they have the good luck to be admitted. Soon four girls of the second class will leave for a normal boarding school and four children of the first class will go to the second class. So four places will be free. Yjoti and her team are visiting the most pover families to recrute four new children. There has to be more women likeYjoti !!!!!!
It’s such a nice place to work, to see the tremendous happiness on those little faces. I got so much satisfaction and hope there.
After biking back to Kathmandu, I’m taking a shower (cold and brown water) to wash away dirt and dust. And each day, there is again the confrontation with the misery in the city.
Nepal is going deeply in my bones. Poverty without ending. But I’m still hoping that the tiny little help of each volunteer will improve slowly but surely life here …
Some more images from Nepal kids and my children in the contact center that I really want to help a little step further in a better future.
Sorry for my bad English …
Greetz to all of you !
Yvette

Newsletter - February 2, 2008

Kathmandu, January 24, 2008

Dear friends,
First of all I have to tell you how grateful I am for your sponsoring. Total amount reached € 2140. Already three weeks in Kathmandu ! The first week was really a holiday week to improve contact between the members of our team and our cooperation. We are 15 volonteers of Holland and I am the only Belgian volonteer. We went trekking together through an amazing beautiful Nepal. First we went to Chitwan, in the southern part near to India. Climat was very nice and warm there. We had a safari trip by jeep and by foot, elephants bathing and riding on their backs through the jungle, going by wooden canoes on the Rapty river. But I also went to see my first sunrise with Ajay, who is responsable for Cross Borders here. He's also passionated by photography. While the other team members were still asleep, we went through local awakening villages, with the sounds of prayers and music raising out of the little temples. Women preparing the children for the long walk to school. Men going at work on the land. We got hot black tea from the local inhabitants. It was a foggy and strange morning in an unknown world for me. But soon, I felt one with it and the unreal atmosphere dissappeared with the morning fog. Tremendous poverty everywhere, but people seem happy, living from the land and cattle, sharing and taking care of each other. They are so warm and welcoming. I felt guilty to be a tourist !!! After that we went all to Pokhara in the North near to the Tibetian border for a trekking in the mountains. Sunrises and sunsets on the Anapurna ... sleeping in a wooden mountain house, corssing mountain villages with the same poverty and welcoming. After six days we finally went back to Kathmandu to start the real work. Pokhara - Kathmandu is about 210 km by the highway in local busses. It took about 9 hours cause it is impossible to drive faster than 30km/hour. Highways here are simple two directions routes, very dangerous. Busses are in bad conditions as well as the highway. Driving amons trucks, bikers, cars, tchouctchoucs, people by foot, children going to school and cows. We also had damage on the brakes of the bus, so reparation took also two hours.
I'm sending you a few pictures of this first week.
Next newsletter will be about Kathmandu and my work !
See you ... and many hugs
Yvette